


to unmake a bomb

by thefigureinthecorner



Category: The AM Archives (Podcast), The Bright Sessions (Podcast)
Genre: Bonding over trauma, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Nightmares, Post The AM Archives, Post-Canon, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22289053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefigureinthecorner/pseuds/thefigureinthecorner
Summary: There’s an understanding, of some sort, between the three of them. Three broken men, chewed up and spit out by life, by their abilities, by the people who used to love them and by the people who wanted to experiment on them and abuse them. And there’s a comfort in that understanding. There’s an ease in it.Or: touch is complicated, when you're used to people being burned by it for years.
Relationships: Mark Bryant/Oliver Ritz/Alex Chen
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	to unmake a bomb

Touch starvation.

Mark had first heard about it from Joan. Sam had gotten a similar talk, apparently, and only _partially_ because Joan was concerned about him and wanted Sam to look out for him-- she’d been concerned about Sam, too, after years of cutting herself off from the world. And it’s something Mark remembers, as the relationship between him, Oliver, and Alex develops. He recognizes the signs. He remembers what it had been like, after his time on Tier 5 and trapped in the past.

And maybe Mark’s a little bit surprised at how touchy _Oliver_ can get, given how prickly he is sometimes, but, well, Oliver himself had put it best-- human beings are social creatures, and he is no different.

Alex has his own struggles with touch-- he wants it, wants to be held, falls asleep the easiest in someone else’s arms, but then he wakes up screaming, crying and thrashing and trying to push Mark and Oliver away and startling both of them awake in the process.

This is one of those nights.

“No, no-- get back, I don’t wanna hurt you, I don’t wanna hurt anyone--” He’s hyperventilating, warning them to stay away from a fire that isn’t there. He’s curled against the headboard with his hands held to his chest, like that’s going to contain the fire, like it’ll burn him instead of wiping them out, along with the room, this apartment building, and everyone in it. It’s a nightmare he’s had before, a situation the three of them have been in before, a trauma-fueled panic they’ve talked him down from before.

Mark holds his hand.

“No, shh, see, it’s okay. I’m okay. _We’re_ okay. You’re taking that ability suppressant, remember? You won’t burn us. I can hold your hand right now and it isn’t hurting me. We’ll be okay.”

Repeating those words, gripping Alex’s hand as Oliver rubs his back, because the touch grounds him and proves to him that his ability is gone, that it can’t hurt anyone, that _he_ can’t hurt anyone. It’s a process the three of them have workshopped.

Alex slumps forward when his mind is back in the room, leaning forward against Mark’s shoulder and sideways a bit to lean into Oliver, too. Oliver wraps his arms around both of them and draws them in for what would likely be more of a bear-hug if not for the toll three years on Tier 5 had taken on his body, and in that embrace Mark holds Alex and soothes his hair, and they stay like that. Not talking, not moving, just holding each other and breathing.

“Thank you,” Alex says, softly, emphatically, like he does every time.

And, as he does every time, Mark responds: “Hey, no need to thank us.”

And Oliver: “We’re here whenever you need.”

There’s an understanding, of some sort, between the three of them. Three broken men, chewed up and spit out by life, by their abilities, by the people who used to love them and by the people who wanted to experiment on them and abuse them. And there’s a comfort in that understanding. There’s an ease in it.

And so, as he does every time, Alex nods, and they fall into that comfortable quiet again; fall asleep holding each other; fall further in love.

**Author's Note:**

> same trauma trio baybeeeee
> 
> maybe i'm not the first to tag for the ship but i'm the first one to write a fic for them specifically and i'm proud of myself for that


End file.
